Presenting media content items using geographical data

Abstract

Systems and techniques are disclosed for generating a geographically based slideshow of a user's digital media items such as photos or videos. A slideshow framework receives user-specified digital images, ordering them according to time of capture, organizing the ordered images into groups, each group corresponding to a different geographical region, and generating a slideshow of the user-specified images using maps of the different geo-graphical regions and visual transitions between the different geographical regions.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method performed by one or more processes executing on a computer system, the method comprising:
 receiving a plurality of user-specified digital images, each image having an associated capture time; 
 organizing the received images according to their respective capture times to form an ordered set of images; 
 identifying one or more boundaries within the ordered set of images to define an ordered set of image groups, each group corresponding to a different geographical region; 
 retrieving a map for each of the geographical regions; and 
 generating a slideshow of the user-specified images, wherein the slideshow comprises:
 one or more slides for each image group, the one or more slides comprising the images for the image group, 
 an introductory slide for each image group that includes the map for the geographical region corresponding to the image group and precedes the one or more slides for the image group, and 
 a visual transition between each consecutive pair of image groups in the ordered set of image groups that visually connects the maps for the geographical regions corresponding to the image groups in the consecutive pair of image groups based, at least in part, on a type of terrain that is between the geographical regions corresponding to the consecutive pair of image groups. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1  wherein the different geographical regions are one or more of a neighborhood, a city, a county, a state, and a country. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1  wherein identifying one or more boundaries within the ordered set of images comprises:
 determining a geographical region associated with each image in the ordered set of images by performing a reverse geo-code lookup from geographical place of capture data associated with each image; and 
 identifying the one or more boundaries based on the determined geographical regions. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3  wherein identifying one or more boundaries within the ordered set of images further comprises organizing a particular image into a group where the capture time associated with the particular image is within a capture time range for images in the group if the reverse geo-code lookup for the particular image results in no associated geographical region. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1  wherein identifying one or more boundaries within the ordered set of images comprises:
 determining a geographical distance from a capture location associated with a particular image in the ordered set of images under consideration to an average geographical location of one or more previous images within the ordered set of images; and 
 identifying a boundary that defines a group that includes the particular image the one or more previous images when the geographical distance is less than a threshold value. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5  wherein identifying one or more boundaries within the ordered set of images further comprises identifying a boundary that separates the particular image and the one or more previous images into separate groups when the geographical distance is greater than the threshold value. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1  further comprising combining two or more of the groups when the geographical regions corresponding to the two or more groups overlap. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1  further comprising separating the ordered images within at least one group into a plurality of subgroups, wherein the subgroups correspond to at least one of an area of interest and a place of interest within the geographical region corresponding to the at least one group. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8  further comprising associating names with each group and subgroup, wherein the associated names are based at least in part on reverse geo-code lookup information obtained by using geographical place of capture data associated with each image and a quantity of images corresponding to the reverse geo-code lookup information. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1  wherein each visual transition is additionally based, at least in part, on a direction of travel and a distance between the geographical regions corresponding to the image groups in a consecutive pair of image groups. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1  further comprising generating a title screen for the slideshow, wherein the title screen comprises a globe that displays the geographical regions corresponding to each of the groups. 
     
     
       12. A computer program product, tangibly embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, to cause one or more data processing apparatuses to perform operations comprising:
 organizing a plurality of user-specified digital images according to a respective capture time associated with each image to form an ordered set of images; 
 identifying one or more boundaries within the ordered set of images to define an ordered set of image groups, each group corresponding to a different geographical region; 
 retrieving a map for each of the geographical regions; and 
 generating a slideshow of the user-specified images, wherein the slideshow comprises:
 one or more slides for each image group, the one or more slides comprising the images for the image group, 
 an introductory slide for each image group that includes the map for the geographical region corresponding to the image group and precedes the one or more slides for the image group, and 
 a visual transition between each consecutive pair of image groups in the ordered set of image groups that visually connects the maps for the geographical regions corresponding to the image groups in the consecutive pair of image groups based, at least in part, on a type of terrain that is between the geographical regions corresponding to consecutive pair of image groups. 
 
 
     
     
       13. The computer program product of  claim 12  wherein the different geographical regions are one or more of a neighborhood, a city, a county, a state, and a country. 
     
     
       14. The computer program product of  claim 12  wherein identifying one or more boundaries within the ordered set of images comprises:
 determining a geographical region associated with each image in the ordered set of images by performing a reverse geo-code lookup from geographical place of capture data associated with each image; and 
 identifying the one or more boundaries based on the determined geographical regions. 
 
     
     
       15. The computer program product of  claim 14  wherein identifying one or more boundaries within the ordered set of images further comprises organizing a particular image into a group where the capture time associated with the particular image is within a capture time range for images in the group if the reverse geo-code lookup for the particular image results in no associated geographical region. 
     
     
       16. The computer program product of  claim 12  wherein identifying one or more boundaries within the ordered set of images comprises:
 determining a geographical distance from a capture location associated with a particular image in the ordered set of images under consideration to an average geographical location of one or more previous images within the ordered set of images; and 
 identifying a boundary that defines a group that includes the particular image and the one or more previous images when the geographical distance is less than a threshold value. 
 
     
     
       17. The computer program product of  claim 16  wherein identifying one or more boundaries within the ordered set of images further comprises identifying a boundary that separates the particular image and the one or more previous images into separate groups when the geographical distance is greater than the threshold value. 
     
     
       18. The computer program product of  claim 12  further comprising separating the ordered images within at least one group into a plurality of subgroups, wherein the subgroups correspond to at least one of an area of interest and a place of interest within the geographical region corresponding to the at least one group. 
     
     
       19. The computer program product of  claim 18  further comprising associating names with each group and subgroup, wherein the associated names are based at least in part on reverse geo-code lookup information obtained by using geographical place of capture data associated with each image and a quantity of images corresponding to the reverse geo-code lookup information. 
     
     
       20. The computer program product of  claim 12  wherein each visual transition is additionally based, at least in part, on a direction of travel and a distance between the geographical regions corresponding to the image groups in a consecutive pair of image groups. 
     
     
       21. The computer program product of  claim 12  further comprising generating a title screen for the slideshow, wherein the title screen comprises a globe that displays the geographical regions corresponding to each of the groups. 
     
     
       22. A system comprising:
 a processor; and 
 a computer-readable medium encoding instructions to cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
 organizing a plurality of user-specified digital images according to a respective capture time associated with each image to form an ordered set of images; 
 identifying one or more boundaries within the ordered set of images to define an ordered set of image groups, each group corresponding to a different geographical region; 
 retrieving a map for each of the geographical regions; and 
 generating a slideshow of the user-specified images, wherein the slideshow comprises:
 one or more slides for each image group, the one or more slides comprising the images for the image group, 
 an introductory slide for each image group that includes the map for the geographical region corresponding to the image group and precedes the one or more slides for the image group, and 
 a visual transition between each consecutive pair of image groups in the ordered set of image groups that visually connects the maps for the geographical regions corresponding to the image groups in the consecutive pair of image groups based, at least in part, on a type of terrain that is between the geographical regions corresponding to the consecutive pair of image groups. 
 
 
 
     
     
       23. The system of  claim 22  wherein the different geographical regions are one or more of a neighborhood, a city, a county, a state, and a country. 
     
     
       24. The system of  claim 22  wherein identifying one or more boundaries within the ordered set of images comprises:
 determining a geographical region associated with each image in the ordered set of images by performing a reverse geo-code lookup from geographical place of capture data associated with each image; and 
 identifying the one or more boundaries based on the determined geographical regions. 
 
     
     
       25. The system of  claim 24  wherein identifying one or more boundaries within the ordered set of images further comprises organizing a particular image into a group where the capture time associated with the particular image is within a capture time range for images in the group if the reverse geo-code lookup for the particular image results in no associated geographical region. 
     
     
       26. The system of  claim 22  wherein identifying one or more boundaries within the ordered set of images comprises:
 determining a geographical distance from a capture location associated with a particular image in the ordered set of images under consideration to an average geographical location of one or more previous images within the ordered set of images; and 
 identifying a boundary that defines a group that includes the particular image and the one or more previous images when the geographical distance is less than a threshold value. 
 
     
     
       27. The system of  claim 26  wherein identifying one or more boundaries within the ordered set of images further comprises identifying a boundary that separates the particular image and the one or more previous images into separate groups when the geographical distance is greater than the threshold value. 
     
     
       28. The system of  claim 22  further comprising separating the ordered images within at least one group into a plurality of subgroups, wherein the subgroups correspond to at least one of an area of interest and a place of interest within the geographical region corresponding to the at least one group. 
     
     
       29. The system of  claim 28  further comprising associating names with each group and subgroup, wherein the associated names are based at least in part on reverse geo-code lookup information obtained by using geographical place of capture data associated with each image and a quantity of images corresponding to the reverse geo-code lookup information. 
     
     
       30. The system of  claim 22  wherein each visual transition is additionally based, at least in part, on a direction of travel and a distance between the geographical regions corresponding to the image groups in a consecutive pair of image groups. 
     
     
       31. The system of  claim 22  further comprising generating a title screen for the slideshow, wherein the title screen comprises a globe that displays the geographical regions corresponding to each of the groups.